Never mind Rush Limbaugh and the Rams’ 16 losses in a row – what does a NFL team mean to a region? Is having a pro football team worth the cost? Last week, Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers sat in the Edward Jones Dome (in the Rams’ private box) to watch the Rams lose to Minnesota. In his column last Monday, Simers suggests LA is better off without the Rams and says the Rams “bled St. Louis taxpayers dry only to put themselves in a position to make a run at someone else’s money” to move elsewhere in 2015. Simers says the Rams are clearing $20 million per year.

The discussion about what St. Louis needs at the Sept. 25 meeting at the downtown office of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association centered on the need to rethink how local residents view living in St. Louis. Citizens need to realize and accept that all city, county and municipality issues are really regional issues and that a cooperative regional approach is needed to solve them. They need to rethink their self-identity, local government design and business models. People need to take risks if they want the region to grow. The local work environment needs to change, with more flexible work schedules that focus on new small businesses and entrepreneurial innovations.

A.C. Wharton Jr. is the mayor of Shelby County, which includes Memphis, and he has responsibility for the Memphis Regional Medical Center, which has the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the area. That hospital serves parts of Arkansas as well as Memphis. As Memphis is within Shelby County, the county and city have many shared responsibilities. Wharton is now running for mayor of Memphis and he is campaigning for consolidation of Shelby County and the city of Memphis. Check out this story in Governing magazine to see if this city downriver has some lessons for St. Louis: http://www.governing.com/article/memphis-plea-regionalism

The Architect’s Newspaper is a news outlet serving architects, designers, engineers, landscape architects, lighting designers, interior designers, academics, developers, contractors, and other parties interested in the built urban environment. A recent article highlights the City of St. Louis’ and East-West Gateway Council of Government’s work to implement the concepts of a Great Street on South Grand Avenue.

The goal of the St. Louis Great Streets Initiative is to trigger economic and social benefits by centering communities around interesting, lively, and attractive streets that serve all modes of transportation. On South Grand, East-West Gateway and the City of St. Louis have been testing a new sustainable streetscape design that calms traffic

Because more than half of the world’s residents live in urban areas, researchers recently compared the greenhouse gas emissions of 10 cities across the world and found that of those 10 cities, Denver had the highest greenhouse gas emissions per resident and Barcelona, Spain had the lowest. Denver’s level was higher than Toronto, New York City and Los Angeles. Researchers considered the contribution of heating, transportation and waste disposal, among other things, to the emission of greenhouse gases. Of course weather is factor, though considering two urban areas with comparable climates and density, Toronto and Denver, Toronto comes off better with 11.6 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per resident, compared